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U.S. President Donald Trump signed a 2018 budget bill that includes a $3 million funding increase for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Artsy Editors
Mar 23, 2018 2:00PM, via CNN

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will see its budget rise to $152.8 million from $149.8 million under a federal budget passed by the U.S. Congress early Friday morning. The funding boost is a major victory for arts groups, especially given that the Trump administration initially sought to eliminate the NEA in a proposed budget. Under the newly signed budget, the National Gallery of Art will see a $1.04 million increase, while the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) also saw a $3 million bump, CNN reports.  President Trump initially was expected to sign the $1.3 trillion budget after it passed with bipartisan support through Congress, but in a tweet Friday morning, he indicated he might veto the legislation because it doesn’t include a fully funded border wall or resolve uncertainty around the DACA program. But in a press conference later in the day, the President reversed course again, saying he signed the omnibus budget bill, though he called it a “ridiculous situation” and said he had reservations about the package. The bill will fund the federal government for the remainder of the 2018 fiscal year, which runs until September.

Artsy Editors